Stu's Absolute Inspections, Inc.

Phenomenal. I needed someone last minute and Stu was able to get there for me. He was incredible thorough, explained details in a way that I could understand, was professional and patient with all my questions, and I can honestly say he loves what he does. His attention to detail was astounding and I could not recommend him more.

Basically, Stu is a nice person and was detailed in his report. I think he took a very cautious approach and identified some potential problems that we used to negotiate into the final sale price of the home.

Also some of the issue he brought up were actually not issues. For instance he noted water coming in from a pipe into the water heater did not have a dielectric union. While that was true, I learned later that the implications were trivial because the plumbers used a brass fitting between the water heater and iron pipe which according to a plumber was better than dielectric union and acted in the same preventive way -  which are typically plastic end to end fittings (controversial issue in plumbing dielectric unions may leak at plastic ends).

He noted a few issues with the electric and outdoor deck which saved us a lot of money in negotiation. There were a few things he didn't have on his report that we ended up fixing anyway but they were mostly trivial or simply obvious (old faucets, old ceiling fan, a switch or two that had to go). We also had a plastic tube from copper pipe to refrigerator for  ice and water which was not listed. While these are usually ok they get brittle over time and can crack and cause a flood. While they still sell this tubing we had it replaced with a copper pipe and shutoff. Finally we had an ash tree in the yard and maple tree that were nearing the end of their lives. Usually home inspections do not include yard issues but they probably should. We had both tree removed as one had ash bore disease (ash) and the maple was an accident waiting to happen. This wasn't a huge expense (1k) but it was still an expense that I wish I would have added into final sale price of the house.

I think the price for home inspections in general is expensive and also depending on a persons background in that business you will get different opinion (kind of like what you get in medicine with doctors). I appreciated Stu's willingness to talk on the phone and go over some issues with electrical and terminology in his report with me. We sought an expert electrician as a follow-up to get estimates and did confirmed Stu's findings. 

In summary, home inspections are not cheap and some may find nothing wrong while others may see things very differently. I guess I would rather have someone be extra cautious rather than not at all on what is really a huge financial decision with home purchasing. Given we were buying a 100 yr old home I thought the report was reasonable.

Stu was so good at his job that I wish I hadn't even called the structural engineer because Stu had way better info and advice then the engineer I paid.  I would certainly recommend Stu's inspections.